Michigan · Nonprofit
THE COLOSSIAN FORUM
THE COLOSSIAN FORUM (Michigan) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,675,421 to it, the largest being LILLY ENDOWMENT INC ($7,494,922). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $6.7M
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $13M
- Net assets
- $6.0M
What The Colossian Forum does
Mission
We give christians hope and a plan to navigate conflict with courage and love.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
The Colossian Forum (tcf) takes its name and inspiration from the apostle paul's stunning proclamation in colossians 1:17 that "all things hold together in christ." today, in a time of deep divisions between christians, st. Paul's six words change everything. They reveal that all reality is ultimately united in jesus-and therefore all divisions and animosities are reconciled in him. Tcf is dedicated to reclaiming this liberating truth and proclaiming it to all christians who are divided. Since tcf's founding, we have primarily done this work by inviting people into conversations on contentious topics through the hosting of public and private forums, providing educational resources, and offering christian scholarship. In 2022, we launched a new program aimed at church, christian school, and nonprofit organization leadership. This program, called wayfinder, aims to extend our mission into the life of a church, school, or business. The program trains and coaches leaders in practices of christian conflict transformation with the aim of building an intentional and invitational culture around conflict. Wayfinder delivers both hope in the face of confict and practical and effective tools…
$1,385,747 spent$247,942 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,385,747.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2024 to 2025, from $2.4M to $6.5M (+171%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 12% · 2021 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
95% of THE COLOSSIAN FORUM’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (90% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Gene Miyamoto
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 5 funders, grant income fell $740k → $718k.
4 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 23% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of THE COLOSSIAN FORUM’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
THE COLOSSIAN FORUM leans on a few funders — its largest provides 59% of grant income and the top three 85%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 95% · 2018 88% · 2019 77% · 2020 33% · 2021 32% · 2022 72% · 2023 70% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
50% of THE COLOSSIAN FORUM's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
THE COLOSSIAN FORUM draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Michigan, across 7 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.9M arriving through sponsors registered in 4 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
THE COLOSSIAN FORUM runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 1,211 religion nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,211 religion nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like THE COLOSSIAN FORUM
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Michigan
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
40%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE COLOSSIAN FORUM: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds THE COLOSSIAN FORUM?
- THE COLOSSIAN FORUM (Michigan) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,675,421 to it, the largest being LILLY ENDOWMENT INC ($7,494,922). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE COLOSSIAN FORUM have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $12,675,421 in grants to THE COLOSSIAN FORUM, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE COLOSSIAN FORUM?
- LILLY ENDOWMENT INC is the largest funder on record, with $7,494,922 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE COLOSSIAN FORUM find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Michigan. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Colossian Forum →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 12 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing